No Need for Serenity
by Hawk
Summary: Tenchi smooching with Mihoshi in the woods? Tenchi and Ryoko, snogging like there's no tomorrow? Tenchi frenching Ayeka in the living room? Tenchi giving 'it' to Washu? Has he been replaced with a pod person or just what is going on in the Masaki house?
1. One

No Need for Serenity PG-13  
Niklas "Hawk" Jonsson 

Summary: Tenchi is smooching with Mihoshi in the woods? Tenchi and Ryoko, snogging like there's no tomorrow? Tenchi frenching Ayeka in the living room? Tenchi giving 'it' to Washu? Has he been replaced with a pod person or just what is going on in the Masaki household?

Disclaimer: Tenchi Muyo, Onegai Teacher and whatnot are not mine, though I certainly wish they were. The story is mine though, all mine.  
If the layout looks screwy or symbols seems to be missing, you're probably reading the quickedit-mangled version of this fic on ff dot net, if it grates on your nerves too much, read it on hawksgalaxy dot com or something.

Feedback/Flames: Yes, please. Both of them are equally fun to read, although I must admit that I greatly prefer the first variety. :)  
I can be found on ICQ as 21771860, MSN Messenger/E-mail as iamhawk at yahoo dotcom, though not very frequently as real life lately interferes with my online existance more then I'd like. More stories are available at my nifty lil' site at hawksgalaxy dot com or by clicking on my handle up above.

"speech"  
emphasis/shouts/Kindred Domination/post-hypnotic triggers  
/thoughts/  
-/telepathy/-  
translation  
+soundeffect/radio/telephone conversation/TV+

Demented scribblings from the most disturbed perverted genius in the universe 

Heh, it's odd how things happen by pure coincidence sometimes. Do you know why I'm uploading this story now? Because of a Micro$oft Messenger conversation about Onegai Teacher I had two evenings ago. :) That conversation made me recall just how long ago it's been since I last watched the OT anime, so I dug through my anime collection and last night, I started watching Onegai Teacher. I've watched episodes 1-7 by now and felt my fingers starting to itch, wanting to write something. So, I started up Windows Explorer and cruised on by to my Stories-folder, where I entered by Onegai Teacher-folder, taking a peek at what sort of stuff I've already gotten started on at some time in the past.

Nothing I found there, really got my creative engine started however, but I recalled that I've started on a few Onegai Teacher crossovers from time to time over the years, which can be found in folders belonging to other fandoms. After marveling over the fact that I've started writing on such diverse crossovers as Evangelion/Onegai Teacher, Full Metal Panic/Onegai Teacher, Hellsing/Onegai Teacher ( this one was odd, I dunno what I was thinking when I started working on this one... ), Happy Lesson/Onegai Teacher ( This one was bloody great! I've got to try and write a little more on this one, as it's got quite a bit of potential. ), Smallville/Onegai Teacher ( Quite odd, but it kinda works, even if the beginning made me shudder now. I've got to rewrite that... ), Love Hina/Onegai Teacher ( Two of them! One of them defenetively has potential, the other... Naw, I got to rewrite that one from scratch or scrap it all together. ), Mahou Sensei Negima/Onegai Teacher ( This one was... Bleh... Bland. Not bad, but not good either. Gotta revise that one somehow... ), Naruto/Onegai Teacher ( Quite cool from time to time actually. But it doesn't really work as a whole. ), Ranma/Onegai Teacher ( Three of them. None of them exceptionally god... Yet... But all of them have potential. ) and then I popped into my Tenchi Muyo folder.

I did find a Tenchi Muyo/Onegai Teacher crossover in there, quite a good one if I say so myself, but I also rediscovered No Need for Serenity and the fact that I had two full chapters, spellchecked'n html:ized and all, just laying there, doing nobody any good. Which they have been since like two harddrive crashes ago or something, as the creation date on those two files were early last fall:) Anyways, after a few minor revisions that I made while re-reading them, I thought it was just about time to upload this shit and traumatize the general public with yet another one of my demented creations, so I can go on with what I was planning to do before stumbling across this, namely write a pure Onegai Teacher fic, without crossover elements. :)

What? You guys thought I would be satisfied just because fanfiction dot net now has a Mahou Sensei Negima category? Hell no! Now we need Onegai Teacher, Onegai Twins, Grenadier and Happy Lesson categories as well:)

Anyways, I started writing on this particular fic about two or so years ago. I recall it rather well even now, I was home sick and spent the day cruising the Tenchi Muyo Fanfic Archive for anything and everything that seemed interesting enough. After reading xxx number of stories where the girls just up and decide to share Tenchi with no hard feelings whatsoever, x number of fics where all it takes for a huge orgy to break out is a little increase in the general horniness level of the Masaki household and xx number of fics where Tenchi has no qualms whatsoever about gettin' down'n dirty with Sasami, I decided that enough was enough and started writing this particular fic.

The end result will probably be just about the same as in all those other fics, but I figure that the journey there will be quite different and perhaps contain one or two surprises along the way, which is why I decided to go through with my own particular take on all the above situations, mixed together in one weird blend.

Rating may change later, but the first 3-4 chapters doesn't contain anything particulary outrageous, other then some cursing and naughty words.

- Toodles from Lord Alzheimer Light, the most forgetful writer in the known universe

Roll credits 

* * *

Chapter One:

"Mglf. Mornin', Ryoko." Tenchi grunted out as he emerged from his slumber into semi-consciousness, scenting the space pirates presence, though he did not open his eyes to confirm it. "Don't let Ayeka catch you here." he added by the way of advice, then rolled over and relaxed. If his internal clock was correct, he still had a few more minutes until his alarm would go off and he intended to make the most of them.

"Tenchi?" Ryoko eventually inquired, completely flabbergasted by his unexpected greeting. Usually, he just yelped in surprise or yelled for her to get out of his room. This was a first.

"Mhmm?" he grunted in response.

"Why... Why aren't you mad?" she asked. "Not that I'm complaining or anything, but... I mean... You usually toss me out." she added in a faint voice.

"Doesn't seem to help, now does it? As long as you leave before someone discovers that you're here, it's a harmless hobby and one that I guess I can learn to live with. But the moment you get careless and another stupid fight breaks out because of it, I'm back to tossing you out again. Understand?" he demanded, then groaned as his alarm started buzzing. One arm lazily reached out and stopped it, then he slowly raised his head from the bed, yawning and scratching himself. "Well, I'm going to get dressed now. So..." he hinted, trailing off with a suggestive look at the door.

"I could... Help?" Ryoko hesitantly offered. Still somewhat overwhelmed by Tenchi's completely unexpected behaviour, she wasn't at all her ordinary sexy sultry self and the offer sounded almost laughably amateurish.

"No, thank you." Tenchi replied and dismissed her with an absent wave, which, much to Ryoko's own surprise, caused her to teleport out of his room without protesting about it.

* * *

"Have you noticed anything... Different about this morning, Sasami?" Ayeka whispered, leaning down closer to her little sisters ear as she did so.

"Yes, you and Ryoko hasn't fought over Tenchi yet." she declared in her usual speaking voice, causing a faint blush to appear on Ayeka's cheeks as Sasami apparently didn't care much for the private conversation Ayeka had desired to initiate. All eyes around the table were now focused on them, then moved to Ryoko who appeared to be deep in thought and nearly completely oblivious to her surroundings, then over to Tenchi who probably was embarrassed to be the focus of so much attention at once. Though he didn't seem like it at the moment. As a matter of fact, he seemed completely oblivious to the current discussion.

"Yes, now that you mention it... What gives?" Mihoshi inquired vapidly between bites of food, looking between princess and space pirate.

"That vile... Person... Must not have barged into Tenchi's room this morning. That seems to be the most frequent reason for our little morning... Disagreements." Ayeka decided, moderating her speech somewhat because Ryoko really hadn't done anything to annoy her this morning. Well, other then existing in general and still drawing breath, of course.

Though if Ayeka was really brutally honest with herself, she had to admit that she was a bit peeved that the lack of Ryoko's usual antics meant that she hadn't been able to burst into Tenchi's room this morning. On those days when she was really lucky, Tenchi would even be in a state of undress and without blankets obscuring the view as she burst into the room ready to fend off that wretched pirates unwanted advances for Lord Tenchi, who was too refined and polite to do so himself.

Not that she'd ever admit that she looked forward to those lucky days, of course. She was the first princess of Jurai, she was supposed to be above and beyond such base lusts, desires and thoughts. Why, thoughts like that belonged more in the head of a certain space pirate she knew.

"As a matter of fact, I was..." Ryoko began, but whatever she had been about to say was forever lost as Tenchi reached out and put one of his hands on her right leg, shaking his head at her as he did so.

"Ryoko, don't." he simply insisted, then turned his head to regard Ayeka. "Princess, please. Try to refrain from insulting Ryoko." he requested, then calmly removed his hand from Ryoko's leg and continued to consume his breakfast, still with that unusually serene expression on his face, one eerily reminiscent of the one his grandfather usually adopted at all times.

"Are you feeling all right, Tenchi?" Washu inquired curiously from her seat, having emerged from her lab for a bit of breakfast and companionship instead of her customary isolation. "You're not acting like your usual blundering self. Perhaps I'd better do a quick examination to ensure that you aren't ill." she suggested, a slightly maniacal grin appearing on her face as she cracked her knuckles.

"I am feeling perfectly fine, Washu-chan. Thanks for your concern though. Perhaps after breakfast." Tenchi replied, unfazed by the mad little scientist's behaviour and seemingly not affected by his usual fear of the laboratory. But his easy acceptance of Washus offer for an examination didn't seem to sit all that well with the others.

"Okay, he's caught something and it appears to be bad." Ryoko blurted out, looking over at her mom. "Washu, get your lab ready. I'm bringing him in." she announced, abandoning her meal and effortlessly hoisting Tenchi into her arms as Washu sprinted towards her lab.

"Ryoko." he protested. "Really, I'm fine. There's no need to get worked up..." he attempted to explain, but his deviant behaviour had gotten his friends really worried. Ayeka hadn't even mentioned the fact that Ryoko was carrying Tenchi around. "Fine..." he sighed as he caved in to their concerns. "If it'll ease your minds. But I'm perfectly capable of walking there on my own." he insisted, but to no avail. Ryoko trailed after Washu, bursting into the lab and carrying Tenchi without visible effort, kicking the door shut behind her to prevent the others from following.

The scientist and her daughter soon had Tenchi strapped to a table, as a swarm of odd medical apparatuses started flitting all over Tenchi as Washu began her examination and two minutes later, hustled Ryoko out of the room for 'interfering too much'. Three minutes after that, she pushed back from her holoscreen and looked over at Tenchi with a curious expression on her face.

"You're perfectly healthy, no problems whatsoever." she announced and Tenchi nodded sagely, still displaying the same odd calmness he'd maintained all morning.

"I know. I told you all that I was fine." he replied. "Now then, Washu-chan. Would you mind setting me free now? My breakfast was interrupted and I would like to finish it."

"Actually, there is something you could do for me first... Now that you're here anyway..." Washu drawled.

"'That' sample? Will giving it to you keep you from experimenting on me in the future?" Tenchi inquired.

"Well, that depends on just how well you 'give it' to me." Washu teased with a giggle, before she turned a little more serious. "No, probably not. I'm having way too much fun." she admitted with a twinkle in her eyes.

"I suspected as much. But fine, yes, I will give you that sample." Tenchi stated, causing Washu to blink, then turn back to her holoscreen and repeat the tests she'd just performed. Finding the results pretty much the same as before, she ran the tests a third time just to be sure. Eleven minutes after she started all over again, she turned away from her holoscreen and looked at Tenchi again.

"What made you change your mind?" she inquired suspiciously. If she hadn't already confirmed that she wasn't dealing with a clone, she would have suspected that a switch had been made. "Why are you so calm and accepting on this particular morning?"

"Grandpa told me to work on my focus and awareness, stressing the need to practise my mind as well as my body. So now I'm constantly using the Juraian meditation techniques he taught me to use in battle. It removes doubt, hesitation, subdues emotions, heightens mental faculties and increases perception." Tenchi replied. "In battle, it makes me a better warrior. In my day-to-day life, it causes me to behave a little different then usual. Things that used to worry, embarrass and concern me are now less of a concern, though certainly not completely removed. I still have a lot of training left before that will be possible."

"Ah, that would explain it." Washu replied, then suddenly grinned and suddenly stood before him dressed in her tight nurse uniform. "So then you wouldn't mind if I took that sample now?" she inquired, putting on plastic gloves with a pleased smirk and a couple of ominous sounding snaps.

"Lessened, not removed, Washu-chan." Tenchi replied with faint hints of red on his cheeks. "I'll do... Uhm... The extraction... Entirely on my own, Washu-chan."

"Are you sure?" she asked, looking with false shyness at him and batting her eyelashes seductively as she reached down and tugged on the end of her tight mini-skirt, slowly dragging it further up her nylon-clad leg. "Are you certain that you don't want a little help? Or perhaps something exciting to look at as you perform the... 'Extraction'?" she drawled as the skirt hiked further and further up, now revealing the edge of her bright red lacy panties.

"Uh... I'm... Uh... I'm sure, Washu-chan." Tenchi responded, though not nearly as clumsily as he would have done without the mental tricks he was currently employing, his nose wasn't even bleeding. "I'll be able to handle it on my own." he insisted.

"I betcha you've got lots of experience 'handling it'." Washu purred, toying with her skirt, pulling it up and down as she licked her lips. "Living with all us girls, you must have had a lot of practise."

"Washu, it's disturbing when you do that." Tenchi complained. "Your body looks too young for that sort of behaviour." he admonished her, his cheeks still red.

"Washu-chan." she reminded him. "Is this better?" she purred and assumed her adult form, filling out her already tight clothes to near bursting. Flashing him a sultry leer as she raised her skirt up far enough to reveal nearly everything it was supposed to cover up.

"I think you deliberately misunderstood me there." Tenchi berated her with a sigh, then looked her up and down. "But yes, it is better. You are stunningly beautiful, Washu." he complimented her.

"Tenchi!" Washu exclaimed, blushing and yanking her skirt back down as it was now her turn to be embarrassed. She swallowed and plastered a fake-looking smile on her lips, trying to appear composed even though she was not. "You shouldn't say those kind of things. What if Ryoko or Ayeka heard you now?"

"They aren't here, Washu. But they are beautiful as well. All of you are." he replied with a faint shrug, then tugged at his bonds. "Washu? Let me go." he implored her.

"Are you sure that you don't want me to help you?" she inquired.

"It is not a good idea, Washu. The others would be upset if they found out about it." he answered her.

"Is that the only reason why you're refusing, Tenchi?" she wondered.

"Of course. You're a beautiful, wonderful, intelligent and very sexy woman, Washu. I would be honoured." he said, calmly looking at her again. "I'm sure it'd be the experience of a life-time. But so would the reactions from Ayeka and Ryoko be as well."

"They wouldn't have to know..." Washu hinted, intrigued and a little turned on by Tenchis calmly spoken words. She had felt excited around him before, certainly. But not like this, nothing like how she was feeling now.

"Would even you be able to keep it from them?" Tenchi wondered. "Mihoshi could wander in on us at any second, Ryoko shares a mental bond with you, Ayeka is very perceptive and Sasami is bonded with Tsunami. Are you sure that it wouldn't be uncovered?" he wondered.

"No." Washu reluctantly admitted after a period of silence.

"Then it is better that I go at it on my own. For both our sakes. Ryoko would never forgive you if she found out about it." Tenchi replied and Washu found herself in very reluctant agreement with him. "Unless you have some sort of sub-dimension accessible only by one device, one which we bring along with us, of course. Then I'll quite happily screw you into a dazed stupor." Tenchi added with a perfectly straight face, causing Washu to nearly trip and fall from sheer surprise, complete astonishment, overwhelming desire and acute embarrassment.

"Tenchi!" she exclaimed in a shocked tone of voice, her face a weird blend of conflicting expressions as she mentally debated how long it would take her to build such a device.

"He. He. He. Gotcha." Tenchi responded, though there was no real genuine mirth in his response. But the expression on his face did promise that he was going to remember this moment later, when he was no longer employing the mental techniques and thus free to laugh his ass off as he recalled her reaction to his suggestion.

Payback was a bitch.

* * *

"There's nothing wrong with him!" Washu explained the moment she opened the door to her lab after first having returned to her petite form, coming face to face with a cluster of nervous females. "He's merely training, following his grandfathers instructions to make use out of Juraian battle meditation techniques at all times." she added as Tenchi followed her out into the house. "This subdues his emotions, removes doubt and suppresses hesitation, causing him to act unburdened by these things. Which of course makes his behaviour seem odd to us, as emotions, doubt and hesitation have always been an alternately guiding and/or inhibiting principle behind all his actions in the past."

"So, Tenchi is more uninhibited while using these techniques?" Ryoko wondered with a speculative frown.

"Yes, well, that's part of..." Washu began to explain, but Ryoko had heard what she needed to know and thus stopped listening in favour of action and instant gratification.

"My Tenchi!" she cried out and launched herself through the air, teleporting in mid-air and reappearing just inches from Tenchi, hurling herself at him and sealing her lips to his in a passionate kiss. Tenchi stumbled back a few steps from the impact and his arms automatically went up, holding Ryoko close. "Mmmmmnchi..." Ryoko moaned against his lips as he lazily indulged in and absently responded to her kiss.

"Y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-yo-yo-y-y-you vile fiend! Demon! Pirate! Shameless tramp!" Ayeka exclaimed, stalking towards the kissing couple with murder in her eyes. Tenchi dragged out on the kiss for a few moments, then pulled back and stepped between Ryoko and Ayeka. As the furious princess attempted to sidestep him in order to reach Ryoko, he reached out for Ayeka and reeled her in for a kiss, which stopped the Juraian princess dead in her tracks.

It took the stunned Ayeka a few moments to react, during which she just clung listlessly to Tenchi. But she quickly caught on and wasn't late to take advantage of the situation, taking command and quickly turning the kiss just as passionate as Tenchi's and Ryoko's had been, if not more so. So when Tenchi pulled away, Ayeka indulged in a somewhat dazed, but none the less proud glare at the equally dazed Ryoko who was too happy to care much about what the prissy princess did.

"I've always wondered about that 'kiss and make up'-thing. Now I know. Should have tried it before. Would have saved us a lot of repairs on the house and garden." Tenchi calmly commented with a deadpan look.

"Yay, Tenchi!" Mihoshi cheered, raising her clenched fist into the air. "Atta boy!"

"Tenchi-niichan..." Sasami breathed, a furious blush on her cheeks, a questioning smile on her lips and both eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Have you been browsing through more naughty parts of your father's library lately, Tenchi? I didn't think you were the kind of guy to go for two women." Washu teased him, struggling to maintain the fake smile plastered on her lips and preventing an envious expression from making an appearance on her face.

"I'm not, Washu-chan." Tenchi simply replied, then looked first at Washu, then Mihoshi and finally Sasami. "I'm the kind of guy who'll go for four women. Perhaps five once Sasami has grown up a bit more." he deadpanned, after which followed a stunned silence and the sound of five asses hitting the floor as five sets of legs suddenly found themselves incapable of supporting the weight they carried. "He. He. He. Something I said?" Tenchi asked, though without any real mirth. But the sparkle in his eyes revealed that once he was back to normal, he would indeed see the fun in the current situation.

A bitch she might have been, but oh how sweet Payback was!

* * *

"Ohmygod! Ohmygod! Ohmygod! Ohmygod! Ohmygod!" Tenchi chanted as he'd emerged from his meditative state at his grandfather's request. "Did I really say that? Did I really do that?" he exclaimed. "Ohmygod! Ohmygod! Ohmygod!"

"Tenchi! Calm down. What did you say? What did you do?" Yosho asked him, a suspicious gleam in his eyes. "The technique you were using now shouldn't have caused you to say or do something that would warrant this behaviour." he added.

"Ohmygod!" Tenchi repeated again. "Ryoko kissed me... And I kissed her back... Right in front of Ayeka!" he blurted out.

"I'm surprised the house still stands." Yosho commented, relaxing as he had expected something far worse from Tenchi's unexpected panicked behaviour just now.

"Oh, they had other things on their minds then fighting." Tenchi waved it off. "Ohmygod." he repeated himself once again, shaking his head, then he started to laugh. And laugh. And laugh. And laugh. And laugh. In the end, Yosho had to apply the flat of his bokken against Tenchi's rear posterior to get him to stop, leaping up into the air with an offended expression as he rubbed his butt. "You didn't have to hit quite so hard..." Tenchi grumbled angrily.

"We've wasted enough time talking about the girls. What I want to know if is you ever dropped and lost your focus." Yosho demanded to know.

"No, not once." Tenchi admitted after considering the morning and events up to lunch, after which he'd headed to the shrine.

"Then everything is proceeding as it should. Given a few days, you'll be able to enter and exit that state of mind at will, much like myself. Just keep it up for a while longer, now center yourself." Yosho ordered him, a statement which Tenchi wasn't sure if it calmed or worried him. He'd been so incredibly out of character that it was scary and he wasn't sure if he ever wanted to repeat the experience ever again.

Though he had to admit that the 'new him', certainly seemed better at handling the girls then the 'old him' ever had. He'd even managed to stop a fight between Ayeka and Ryoko, without having to get injured in the process. Unless one counted bruised lips as injured, which Tenchi certainly didn't at the moment.

"Okay, Grandfather." Tenchi replied and took several deep breaths, closing his eyes. Yosho had assured him that it'd get faster and easier with practise, but for now, it was a difficult process that took several minutes to achieve. He usually didn't manage to stay in the battle trance for very long either, though earlier he'd been in it for hours, even sleep hadn't shaken him out of it. That was an accomplishment that Tenchi was proud of, though the results and his actions while in the trance still weirded him out.

"Focus, Tenchi. Focus. You're distracted." Yosho admonished him and Tenchi nodded, the stray thoughts he was having were not helping him reach the trance. He tried to clear his mind again and focused, eventually managing to slip into the blessed state about four minutes later. As he opened his eyes again, his features had calmed significantly, his pulse slowed down and his breathing evened out into a deep, calm rhythm. "Good, Tenchi. Very good." Yosho complimented him and stood up, raising his bokken, something Tenchi mirrored without being told to.

The master and the student faced each other in complete silence for a few moments, then Yosho was the first to move. Though the initial motion was nearly imperceptible to the human eye, Tenchi reacted. Tenchi in the blessed state didn't rely entirely upon his eyes any longer. He heard the creak of muscles preparing, he smelled the change in Yosho's body and some of the hairs on his arms twitched at some unfelt tension in the air. When Yosho started his strike, Tenchi moved just as fast to counter it.

Twack+

The clatter of wood swords banging together was repeated over and over again, as master and student went through a seemingly endless sequence of attacks, blocks, dodges and counter strikes.

* * *

Tenchi strolled through the woods, his mind everywhere and nowhere. After their training session, Grandfather had told him to take a walk in the woods and meditate upon that which he encountered during his walk. Tenchi hadn't quite understood the point of this particular training at the time and he was now long past caring about it. In the blessed state, he found himself rediscovering the beauty of nature all over again. Scents were so much more richer then ever before, colours so much more clear, sensations so much more heady and it felt as if he could feel every fibre in the straw of grass that hung out of one corner of his mouth.

He gawked like he'd never seen the wooded landscape before, he bent down to feel the grass and he stopped to smell plants, flowers, weeds, moss and at one point, even stepped right up to a tree and darted his tongue out against the trunk, tasting the bark. At first, he wasn't even consciously aware of it, but his now sensitive hearing was the first to pick up on it. But it wasn't until his nose joined in and alerted him that he realised that he wasn't alone any longer. Now that he was aware of it, he could clearly hear footsteps, soft breathing and a faint humming. His nose finally picked up on the almond soap she used and the vanilla perfume she wore, revealing which one of the girls it was.

He didn't know what Mihoshi was doing out in the woods, but his feet took him closer to where he now knew she was. He stopped as he reached the edge of a clearing, a smile appearing on his lips as his eyes fell upon the ditzy detective chasing after a butterfly. She wasn't trying to catch it, it merely appeared as if she was following it around to see what it was up to and Tenchi found himself doing the same, following after Mihoshi just to see what she was up to.

After all, Grandfather had told him to meditate upon that which he found during his walk, had he not? So what if what he had encountered was Mihoshi? She had been found and so, he had to meditate upon her. Brief concerns regarding what Ayeka and Ryoko would have to say about him stalking the detective flared up and threatened to break his trance for a few moments, but in the fluffy cocoon his mind now found itself it, these concerns were soon diminished and muted.

Mihoshi followed the butterfly until a passing bird attracted her attention, causing her to follow that around instead. A while later, a rabbit stole away her attention, leading her and by extension, Tenchi, around the forest in a very erratic pattern. He was starting to get unsure about just where they were and faint concerns regarding if they were lost or not hollered for attention, but as Mihoshi came across a small stream he recognised, his concerns were eased.

Mihoshi bent down and put her hands in the stream, drinking a few mouthfuls of the cold mountain water, then seated herself on a grassy knoll where sunlight streamed down upon her. At that moment, the sun reflecting in her golden hair and the babbling brook in her background, Tenchis lips acquired a wry grin for a few seconds as he recalled what his grandfather had said earlier regarding the beauty Tenchi would encounter during his walk.

Somehow, he doubted that Grandfather knew just how much beauty he would encounter.

Tenchi suddenly started moving again, walking up and seating himself behind Mihoshi as she gazed out over the vista in front of her.

"Beautiful..." she mumbled, rolling her shoulders and rubbing her left shoulder with her right hand, trying to work out a kink.

"Yes. Very." Tenchi agreed and reached out, putting his hands on the detective's shoulders, causing Mihoshi to jump and give off a startled exclamation.

"Aaaahhh! Tenchi!" she panted out, looking back over her shoulder at him. "What are you doing here!"

"Enjoying the view." he replied, then began to knead, rub and massage Mihoshi's shoulders and neck. It seemed as if she had more questions, but apparently thought better then to question her good fortune and instead just relaxed as he sat behind her, giving her a massage. The combination of her long walk, the sun and the expert massage she was getting, soon had Mihoshi's eyelids fluttering and despite her best efforts, she soon dozed off.

Tenchi smiled as he realised what had happened and carefully eased the detective down in a more comfortable position, resting her head on his lap. He sat there in silence and watched the view, absently stroking her hair and rubbing her scalp as she slept peacefully under his tender care.

When she came to an hour later, Tenchi hadn't budged and still drew his hand through her golden wealth of hair, smiling faintly down at her as she opened her eyes and gazed up at him in silence. She liked him, she really did. But seeing as he had both the perfect princess of Jurai and the exotic space pirate so hot on his heels, Mihoshi had never really pursued Tenchi as she figured she didn't stand a chance with that competition. What could she possibly offer him that the other two couldn't?

No, better to pretend to be clueless, squash her feelings and never allow herself to admit that she... That she... Tears welled up in her eyes and she closed them again, silently praying for the resolve to keep herself from crying. She couldn't... She didn't...

Mihoshi wasn't even aware of when or how it happened, but suddenly Tenchi had pulled her up and into his lap, his arms wrapped around her in a comforting embrace as she wept against his chest. It wasn't even the madcap bawling she usually indulged in, it was a more subdued sobbing affair sprinkled with the occasional sniffle for good measure.

It wasn't fair! She didn't just like him, she loved him! She loved him! She loved Tenchi! Why should she keep her feelings to herself? Why should she bury what she felt for him? She'd never had to do anything as hard as pretending to be happy earlier, cheering even, after Tenchi had kissed both Ayeka and Ryoko. Why? Didn't' she have the same right to love and be loved as anyone else?

Damn straight she had!

Just like she didn't remember how she'd wound up in his lap and embrace, she had no recollection of how the kiss started. All of a sudden, she just came to and found herself in the middle of a passionate kiss. Well, passionate on her side at any rate. Tenchi was responding and participating, but in a calm, collected and nearly serene manner. She wasn't complaining though. From Tenchi, she'd accept whatever she could get, whenever she could get it.

Besides, sometime he'd leave that trance and she just couldn't wait to find out what sort of a kisser he would be then. Though one little concern kept dancing around the back of her mind, something he'd said earlier after Washu had teased him a bit. While the trance made him more open and confident, it did not induce any feelings or thoughts that wasn't already there and he had said something about being a five-woman-man, hadn't he?

Did he really expect her, expect any of them to agree to share him? And if he did, what would she do?

Mihoshi didn't know, but for now, the kisses were good enough. She would worry about the future later.

Much later, she decided as one of Tenchi's hands dipped down low and caressed her shapely behind, causing her to redouble her kissing efforts.

* * *

"Where is he?" Ryoko growled to herself, flying back and forth across the darkening landscape. Yosho had revealed that the training was long over and that he'd sent Tenchi off into the woods to meditate, but Tenchi had yet to return to the house. She spotted Mihoshi wobbling around below and briefly considered asking the ditzy blonde if she had seen Tenchi, but dismissed that notion. Mihoshi probably wouldn't recognise Tenchi even if she tripped over him.

Though she had to admit that something had seemed slightly... Off, about Mihoshi. While there had been a smile on her face, it had looked different then her usual smile. More genuine somehow, though Ryoko couldn't understand why it should. Mihoshi was one of the happiest persons she'd ever come across, why should her smile seem genuine now all of a sudden? Ryoko shook her head, being so worried about Tenchi made her think odd things. Mihoshi was just fine, she always was.

But all thoughts of Mihoshi were instantly dismissed as Ryoko found Tenchi not long after zipping past the GP detective. Tenchi was lying on a grassy knoll, a straw of grass protruding from his mouth, his head resting on top of his rolled-up shirt and his bare feet caressed by the slight breeze, his shoes resting beside him. She stifled an excited moan at the sight of his bare chest, all those years of training and chores had paid off!

"'ello, 'oko." he mumbled as she touched down near him, wondering just what it was that had alerted him to her presence. His eyes were closed and besides, the slow rise and fall of his chest had nearly convinced her that he was sleeping.

"Good afternoon, Tenchi." she greeted him and sat down next to him, ogling him with a feral smirk on her face. "Getting ready for me? How convenient..." she purred and positioned herself above him, leaning down and lowering her head until her lips were merely a hairs width away from his. She took in his scent and the smile grew for a moment, then her eyes shot open wide as she took in another scent which was all over him. Another scent that quite unmistakable had come from a very aroused woman. A very aroused Galaxy Policewoman, to be exact. "Mihoshi!" she snarled, pulling back and clenching her fists. "I'll kill that fucking galaxy pig bitch!" she growled and would have shot up into the air if it hadn't been for Tenchi reaching out and holding her down, holding her against him.

"Ryoko... No." was all he said, his arms keeping her where she was. It wasn't that she couldn't get loose, because she certainly could, either by teleporting or by tearing herself loose with her superior strength. But if she did the latter, Tenchi might be hurt in the process. And if she teleported, she wouldn't have his arms around her any longer. Besides, it felt very nice to be pressed up against him, even nicer when he was actually the one pressing her against him rather then the other way around. This didn't happen all that often.

"But that whore detective..." she tried, but was interrupted.

"Ryoko." was all he said, but his tone made the truth behind the single word perfectly clear. It was a warning, one she had better take seriously.

"But that sow... But you..." Ryoko protested, tears gathering in the corner of her eyes. "D-d-do y-yo-y-you l-l-love her?" she asked.

"Of course I do." Tenchi flippantly replied. "I love all of you." he hastily added. "I love you, Ryoko." he insisted, then loosened his grip around her and moved one of his arms, using his now free hand to pull her head down for a kiss.

Normally, this would have made her the happiest biological construct on the planet. But now it merely caused the tears gathering in her eyes to start flowing freely.

"But you... She... You..." she blubbered, pulling away and clenching her hands into fists again. "I'll kill..." she started, put was silenced as Tenchi placed a silencing finger against her lips.

"We kissed, kissed and touched each other, Ryoko. That was all. The only parts of us that found it's way inside the part of the other, were our tongues." Tenchi stated. "I love you, Ryoko. But I love Mihoshi as well. And Ayeka. And Sasami. And... And Washu as well." he added with a faint sigh.

"Sasami! And Washu!" Ryoko demanded, jumping up and glaring down at Tenchi in disbelief. "Washu!" she repeated for good measure, shuddering as a freezing chill went down her spine.

"Yes." Tenchi confirmed and sat up, pulling his shirt back on, although he didn't button it up. Instead he got back onto his feet and captured her right hand, placing a gentle kiss on top of it.

"Mihoshi... Two Juraian sisters... Mother and daughter..." Ryoko mumbled, staring at Tenchi as if he was the alien from outer space. Which to her, he was. Though she'd never seen him as such before. "Are you sure that you haven't spent too much time immersed in your fathers library lately?" she inquired suspiciously, trying to stem the flow of tears and lighten the mood with a joke which fell flat even to her ears. Tenchi merely nodded. "But... Five of us? How can we... How could you even think... Do you really expect any of us to agree to share you?" she demanded.

"No." Tenchi replied with a faint shrug. "Not really. I knew all along that you weren't being really serious when you offered Ayeka to go first." he admitted. "However, I was hoping that at least you wouldn't go off murdering each other the moment you found out. I've reached the conclusion that I've been pushing all of you away, never given the idea of a relationship with any of you girls serious thought because I've been too scared of the possible consequences. Because I was afraid of hurting some of you, I've been hurting all of you. Well, from now on, no more pushing away." he announced. "I'll give each of you whatever chances you want, I'll spend time with each of you and try to get to know the girls I've been pushing away for so long a whole lot better. Something I recently realised I've been neglecting for fear of appearing to be playing favourites. I've lived with the most marvellous women in the universe under the same roof, but although we've all been through a lot, I don't really know all that much about any of you."

"B-bu-b-but, I love you, Tenchi!" Ryoko pleaded with him. "You don't need to get to know the others. You have me! What more do you need!" she demanded.

"What I need, Ryoko, is to get to know all of you girls. What I need, is for you to try and get along with each other. At the moment, I don't know nearly enough to make any sort of choice. What I need, is for you all to understand why I have to do this." he replied, then drew her in for another kiss. She whimpered against him, but responded to his kiss, without her usual gusto though. When he pulled away, she leaned against his chest for support, clinging to him and hugging her arms around him as if she never intended to let him go.

When she had calmed down somewhat and stopped crying, they sat down on the knoll and watched the scenery, talking about this and that. Ryoko reluctantly told Tenchi a little about her past, Tenchi gladly filled Ryoko in on the parts of his childhood that she had missed. They spoke of hopes for the future, dreams, likes and dislikes, all those little nonsensical things they simply hadn't gotten around to talking about before.

Before long, Ryoko found herself seated between Tenchi's legs, her back resting against his chest and his arms wrapped around her, his jaw resting on her left shoulder. It was... Nice... Not at all what she had expected. She didn't think it would be possible to enjoy something as simple as talking as much as she did right now. There were a few more kisses, some initiated by her, some by Tenchi. But mostly, they talked, without outside interruptions.

The End! ( For now... )


	2. Two

No Need for Serenity PG-13  
Niklas "Hawk" Jonsson 

Summary: Tenchi is smooching with Mihoshi in the woods? Tenchi and Ryoko, snogging like there's no tomorrow? Tenchi frenching Ayeka in the living room? Tenchi giving 'it' to Washu? Has he been replaced with a pod person or just what is going on in the Masaki household?

Disclaimer: Tenchi Muyo, Onegai Teacher and whatnot are not mine, though I certainly wish they were. The story is mine though, all mine.  
If the layout looks screwy or symbols seems to be missing, you're probably reading the quickedit-mangled version of this fic on ff dot net, if it grates on your nerves too much, read it on hawksgalaxy dot com or something.

Feedback/Flames: Yes, please. Both of them are equally fun to read, although I must admit that I greatly prefer the first variety. :)  
I can be found on ICQ as 21771860, MSN Messenger/E-mail as iamhawk at yahoo dotcom, though not very frequently as real life lately interferes with my online existance more then I'd like. More stories are available at my nifty lil' site at hawksgalaxy dot com or by clicking on my handle up above.

"speech"  
emphasis/shouts/Kindred Domination/post-hypnotic triggers  
/thoughts/  
-/telepathy/-  
translation  
+soundeffect/radio/telephone conversation/TV+

Previously, on 'No Need for Serenity' 

"B-bu-b-but, I love you, Tenchi!" Ryoko pleaded with him. "You don't need to get to know the others. You have me! What more do you need!" she demanded.

"What I need, Ryoko, is to get to know all of you girls. What I need, is for you to try and get along with each other. At the moment, I don't know nearly enough to make any sort of choice. What I need, is for you all to understand why I have to do this." he replied, then drew her in for another kiss. She whimpered against him, but responded to his kiss, without her usual gusto though. When he pulled away, she leaned against his chest for support, clinging to him and hugging her arms around him as if she never intended to let him go.

When she had calmed down somewhat and stopped crying, they sat down on the knoll and watched the scenery, talking about this and that. Ryoko reluctantly told Tenchi a little about her past, Tenchi gladly filled Ryoko in on the parts of his childhood that she had missed. They spoke of hopes for the future, dreams, likes and dislikes, all those little nonsensical things they simply hadn't gotten around to talking about before.

Before long, Ryoko found herself seated between Tenchi's legs, her back resting against his chest and his arms wrapped around her, his jaw resting on her left shoulder. It was... Nice... Not at all what she had expected. She didn't think it would be possible to enjoy something as simple as talking as much as she did right now. There were a few more kisses, some initiated by her, some by Tenchi. But mostly, they talked, without outside interruptions.

Roll credits 

* * *

Chapter Two:

"Where is Lord Tenchi?" Ayeka muttered for the fourth time in less then five minutes, glaring impatiently around the room. "And where is that despicable wretch Ryoko?" she added, her eyes narrowing as she realised that she hadn't seen Ryoko for quite some time either. Though she had to confess that Tenchi had been gone for far longer then Ryoko and that Ryoko had seemed worried about his whereabouts as well while she had still been around. She did not give the space pirates acting abilities so much credit as to have been able to fake her concern.

"I am here, Ayeka. Sorry to make you worry about me." Tenchi announced, as he to Ayekas great relief suddenly appeared through the doorway to the kitchen, munching on a large sandwich he'd apparently prepared for himself as a replacement for the two meals he'd missed out on during his long absence. To her great disappointment, an unusually subdued Ryoko followed him. She had a pensive frown on her face, an absent look in her eyes and her entire being practically radiated how uncomfortable she was about something.

"It is nothing, Lord Tenchi. I'm just glad that you've returned safe and sound to us." Ayeka assured him, casting a worried glance at Ryoko. Lord Tenchi was returned safe and sound, wasn't he? There didn't seem to be anything physically wrong with him at any rate, Ayeka decided as her eyes roamed him up and down, before suddenly focusing on his shirt. There were grassy stains on it and to her great horror, he was missing two buttons. "Ryoko, you demon! What have you done to Lord Tenchi!" she screeched and pointed at Tenchi's shirt, connecting Tenchi's dishevelled appearance and Ryoko's apparent pensiveness.

"That's not Ryoko's work." Tenchi interjected as Ayeka stalked towards her target, only to find her path blocked by the palm of Tenchi's left hand. "Ayeka, would you care to join me out on the porch?" he inquired, which instantly dismissed her concerns regarding Ryoko and caused her to focus completely on Tenchi.

"Y-yes, of course. I'd love that, Lord Tenchi." she stammered, shocked by his unexpected request.

"Ryoko, do you mind?" Tenchi inquired, looking over at the pirate who to Ayekas astonishment and great confusion, shook her head mutely, though she didn't look at the two of them. "Mihoshi, do you mind?" Tenchi asked the blonde detective, who was sprawled out in the couch, watching American cartoons. She too, shook her head in the negative, but her smile was strained and she too, couldn't bring herself to look at either Tenchi or Ayeka. "Thank you." Tenchi stated, then offered his arm to Ayeka who hesitated before linking her arm with him, looking back at Mihoshi and Ryoko, who to her great astonishment didn't voice a single protest.

She flushed to a bright red as Tenchi led her to the bench, putting his right arm around her and drawing her close after they were seated. She didn't know what was going on or why he was acting this way, but she could certainly get used to it! She snuggled up against him and kept her peace, afraid that talking might break the spell which seemed to have overtaken Tenchi.

Thus she found herself greatly astonished as he started talking, but didn't seem at all inclined to let her go or return to his usual distant self. Though as he spoke of his intentions to get to know all of them better, proclaimed his love for all of them, she did try to pull away, but just couldn't bring herself to do it. She sighed and buried her face against his chest, willing herself not to cry.

At least he'd said that he didn't expect any of them to agree to share him in any way, shape or manner. But as she tried to focus on the very nice conversation they were having, she couldn't help but reflect upon if this was a good thing or not. Sure, the idea of having to share Tenchi with anyone was repulsive and the idea of having to share him with Ryoko of all people made her want to vomit. But she'd grown up in a home where her mother had to share Ayekas father with another woman.

They seemed to have made it work and so, she wasn't entirely sworn off the concept. But she'd always pictured herself getting her knight in Juraian armour, first Yosho, then Tenchi. But despite growing up with two mothers and a father, she'd never really pictured herself having to share her darling knight with anyone. The very notion of having to do so now made her shiver.

But one thing which scared her even more, was finding her knight in shining armour and then having him pick somebody else over her, perhaps even Ryoko! She felt the bile rising and got a sour taste in her mouth. Ayeka wasn't dumb, she knew that Ryoko could offer Tenchi things that she never could. She knew that Tenchi wasn't at all put off by the 'demon' and suspected that there was a fair bit of attraction between the two of them and it wasn't entirely one-sided on Ryoko's part either. She had seen some of the looks Tenchi directed at the space pirate when he didn't think anyone was watching him.

Of course, he looked at everyone when he thought he wasn't being watched. He looked at her as well with the same desire in his eyes, she'd caught him doing it a few times. Growing up in an imperial court, she'd soon picked up the ability to observe without being obvious about it, learned to take advantage of reflective surfaces and appear distracted by other things while she in reality was intent on something completely different.

But even though she outwardly never allowed herself to appear hesitant or dubious about her chances, it was a completely different matter in the privacy of her own mind. She was aware that Tenchi liked all of them and she couldn't fool herself, she knew that she might not necessarily be the one he finally picked.

Had he been inclined to take on more then one of them, as her father had, her chances of being picked were greatly increased! But that also meant sharing, which she wasn't prepared to accept. At least not at this particular moment. But if it might seem like he was slipping away from her, could she raise the topic then? Could she bring herself to swallow the bitter pill that knowing that he'd picked someone else over her and then try to tag along on a relationship with him? Second place, for First Princess Ayeka of Jurai? She shuddered at the thought.

But she dismissed these thoughts from her mind and instead tried to focus on the now. There would be ample time to worry about these things later. For now, she was snuggled up against Tenchi and they were talking without interruptions. She wouldn't allow herself to miss out on a single minute of that, despite the nature of the conversation. Or at least, the beginning of it. Tenchi ventured over towards other subjects after a while.

To make things even more perfect, their time together ended with Tenchi offering her a hand to get up and then kissed her. It was just as she had imagined it, gentle, loving, without hesitation, without doubts and just plain perfect. She was practically walking on air as she returned to the living room, where her good mood was instantly shattered by the nearly identical expressions on Mihoshi's and Ryoko's faces. Disgruntled acceptance, coupled with intense jealousy.

She frowned for a moment, they certainly seemed to know what was going on and Tenchi had asked those two for... What? Permission? Yes, permission, before he walked out on the porch with her. Had he already taken them aside? Was that why Mihoshi had seemed a little different as she returned from her walk and Ryoko appeared so disgruntled upon her return to the house? She scowled at them, imagining what the two of them would have been doing when they had been alone with Lord Tenchi. She was willing to bet that talking hadn't been part of it! Those shameless hussies!

Ryoko was clenching and unclenching her fists, dragging her tongue across her fangs as she imagined tearing both her rivals to pieces with her bare hands. Ayeka licked her lips, musing regarding the possibilities of using her two Juraian Guardians to capture these two in a stasis field, leaving them there for all eternity. Mihoshi briefly entertained the notion of arresting these two for the crimes they'd committed.

Ryoko could be tried on several accounts of attempted murder, due to all her fighting with Ayeka. Ayeka was in similar problems, as Ryoko's rap sheet had been wiped clean after the statue of limitations had kicked in. Meaning that Ayeka too could be tried on several accounts of attempted murder if she were to be tried in court on some planet with no or at least severely strained diplomatic relations with the Juraian Empire.

"Remember, try to get along. No fighting. All of you promised to behave." Tenchi reminded them, having seated himself in the couch and watched the three of them stew in silence for a while. "I'd hate to think that I wouldn't be able to trust any promises or wows one of you might make in the future." he added for good measure.

"Well, I could use a relaxing bath in the Onsen right about now. How about you two?" Ayeka finally inquired, attaching a fake strained laugh at the end of her invitation.

"I think I'd like that." Mihoshi agreed, abandoning the TV. "You coming, Ryoko?" she inquired.

"Do you mind if I bring some Sake?" Ryoko wondered.

"Not at all." Ayeka assured her. "In fact, bring a lot." she added, then stalked off to get her things.

"Good idea." Mihoshi agreed and also left.

Ten minutes later, all three of them were seated in the warm water with a cup of Sake floating on a tray in front, staring in silence at the others.

"Did you..."

"Did he..."

"Were you..."

All three stopped mid-sentence, looking suspiciously at the others, before their moods took yet another plunge and three hands reached for three cups, draining them of their contents.

"Feh, who would have thought that Tenchi had the guts for something like this..." Ryoko finally said, the first to break the oppressive silence.

"Funaho and Momm..." Ayeka began, cleared her throat and then started all over again. "Funaho and Misaki, their visit... They were a bad influence on Tenchi." Ayeka grumbled, refilling her cup and sloshing the liquid around. "I guess we should be grateful that he didn't try to bring any more into this situation."

"Yet..." Mihoshi commented gloomily, then looked up at the two questioning glares directed at her. "What? You heard what he said. He's a 'five woman, once Sasami has grown up a bit'-kind of guy. We're three, Washu makes four and Sasami will grow up soon enough. Five." she muttered. "I don't want to share. It might be all fine and dandy with Juraians, but that's just not the way I was brought up."

"I was brought up that way, grew up right in the middle of a cluster marriage. I'm still certainly not 'fine and dandy' with it. He's my..." Ayeka responded, trailing off and wiping a tear out of one corner of her left eye. "I want all of him." Ayeka declared.

"I hear ya." Ryoko agreed, downing another cup of sake. "My Tenchi... I want him, all of him. I don't know if you've noticed or not, but I don't do 'sharing' very well."

"Would you do not having him at all any better? Would any of us?" Washu asked, having just entered the onsen, strolling over and lowering herself into the warm water, hastily snatching up a cup and bottle of sake for herself. "Because when he does choose, four of us will have to do without him. Or at least, do without him as anything but a close friend. Question is, which four will it be?" she continued, then hastily started drinking with stiff, mechanical movements as an uncomfortable silence fell over the Onsen.

* * *

"Hey, Sasami-chan." Tenchi greeted the girl in question, walking into the kitchen as she was preparing breakfast.

"Good morning, Tenchi-niichan." she responded. "You're up early." she commented.

"I didn't have any repairs to do yesterday, so I managed to get to bed early." he replied with a wry smile, causing Sasami to smile as well at the thought of a day without any of Ryoko and Ayeka's usual antics. "But it appears as if my body has gotten used to get by on little sleep, so I woke up bright and early without being able to get back to sleep." Tenchi replied and stretched, making a popping sound with his left shoulder. "So I tucked Ryoko into my bed and decided to stroll down and keep you company."

"I'm sure Ayeka will be thrilled to discover that when she comes to wake you up." Sasami commented, then giggled at the mental image of Ayeka finding Ryoko in Tenchis bed, with no Tenchi in sight. "She'll tear the house down first and ask questions later."

"Well, let's just hope that it doesn't come to that, eh?" Tenchi replied, then tried to keep up with Sasami, giving her a hand with whatever he could. Before all the girls arrived, he had been the one making breakfast most of the time. But he was nowhere near Sasamis culinary skills and was hard pressed to keep up with the little bundle of energy. But she seemed to appreciate the help and really enjoy the company, as Ryo-Ohki was clearly just as little a morning Cabbit as Ryoko was a morning person and nobody else was up to keep her company.

The furry little critter was curled up in a ball in a corner of the kitchen and Noboyuki usually left before Sasami woke up. Tenchi hadn't really thought of it before, but this wasn't really how a child of Sasami's age should spend her mornings. Or well, at least how a child of Sasami's apparent age should spend her mornings. He found it hard to reconcile the image of Sasami with someone who was older then him. It was odd to think of her as older then him.

Mihoshi was actually the one of the girls who was closest to him in age, being just past her twenty-second birthday. All of the others had been around for longer then his natural life span. Or at least, what his natural life span would have been, had he been born completely human.

Washu had attempted to explain it to him once. How Juraians had an extended life span and how Juraian Royals lived even longer then that, much longer, if they were bonded with a Juraian Tree. Tenchi wasn't bonded, unless perhaps he was bonded to Tsunami, even Washu wasn't really sure about that and neither of the two had spoken with Tsunami about it. But what Washu was sure of, what that his body's cellular structure had stopped detoriating after he manifested the Light-Hawk wings. It was a natural part of the ageing process for a human, as well as a Juraian.

But apparently, not for him. His body no longer functioned within the same boundaries as everyone else. Even Washu's and Ryoko's bodies were still affected by entropy, albeit at a greatly reduced rate. But his, was not. Or if it was, it was to a such minuscule degree, that even Washu's equipment couldn't measure it.

So unless he died a violent death, he wasn't likely to die anytime soon. Perhaps, he'd live forever, if he managed to avoid getting killed.

Which was a bleak prospect.

He'd get to live on and watch as everyone he cared about passed away, how everything that once mattered to him broke down and vanished. Unless Washu could somehow come up with a way for everyone to live on, slow down the breakdown and go through occasional renewals, just like Washu had done for herself.

Though he did recall her saying something about it not being a permanent fix once, that even she couldn't cheat death forever.

Or at least, not in any way she'd managed to come up with yet.

'But just you wait. I am Washu-chan, the greatest scientific genius ever! I'll find a way, I'll find a way to live forever! Mahahahahahahahahaha!', was what she had said afterwards. He hoped that she would succeed, the world without Washu-chan would be a very dull and bleak place to live in.

Not to mention a world without Sasami-chan, Ayeka, Ryoko and Mihoshi.

All of them had, in some way or another, made the world into a better place. Made his life a little more bearable, brought so much joy into his daily life. He owed them all so much, and loved them all to pieces for it.

And into pieces their hearts might break, once he made his choice.

The notion of that brought tears to his eyes and a frown to his face, his mental clarity slipping.

How could he do that to them? To any of them?

But, how could he do otherwise? If he didn't chose, how were any of them supposed to get any closure and becoming able to get on with their lives? If he kept on just stringing them along, as he had been, what then? He knew that Ayeka occasionally cried herself to sleep, he knew that Ryoko suffered from nightmares in which he rejected her for one of the others, he knew that Mihoshi pined for him, knew that Washu wanted to carry his baby and that Sasami had a crush on him.

And he hadn't done anything about it, up until now.

Mihoshi had been so happy during their encounter in the woods. She'd ripped out two buttons in her frantic attempts to get his shirt off, he'd been somewhat more successful in maintaining control as he got hers off. He still had an imprint on his back from the stone he had fallen back on, as she pounced at him and smothered him with kisses. No more clothes then that had been lost, but it had been oh so tempting. He had actually had to grab her wrists three times, to prevent her from getting rid of her bra.

Kissing was one thing, but if she had succeeded in ridding herself of that bra, he didn't think he would have been able to prevent himself from going all the way. And that wasn't something he was willing to do. Not until the situation was resolved. Though he had been severely tempted, many times over.

But despite that her attempts at getting topless were foiled, he hadn't ever seen Mihoshi as happy as she had been then. It wasn't until he saw her smile a real smile, that he realised just how fake all her other smiles had been, how much pain, suffering and sorrow those vapid smiles had been hiding. How much guilt she carried on her slender shoulders.

He had learned more about Mihoshi yesterday, then in all the time since he first met her. He found out the hell she had been through to prove herself at the academy, to prove that she wasn't just there because of her grandfather. She'd revealed a little about her failed relationships in the past, both intimate and friendly ones. He got to hear the story of how her first partner, Noike, had requested a transfer away from Mihoshi. How Mihoshi had turned to alcohol and narcotics for a brief period after she got her second partner, her best friend Kiyonne, killed.

How she became unable to focus on her job, how promotions passed her by and how she was transferred to small out of the way low-action systems due to her fragile mental state. He learned of her botched suicide attempt and how that made her realize that her dead friend Kiyonne wouldn't have wanted her to die. How she had just started to turn her life around for the better again, when she wound up on earth.

Just as he had learned more about Ryoko, learned about the abuse she had been through over the millennia. He was still in awe that she was as 'well-adjusted' as she was, when considering the life she had been through. She had suffered through more pain then all of her victims put together, she had been to hell and back over and over again. She had been beat, humiliated, raped, tortured, abused, taunted, ridiculed, feared, hated, experimented upon and through it all, never once lost her fire or her mind. She had been through enough crap to turn the population of an entire planet insane, and yet, emerged from all her trials as the energetic Ryoko he had gotten to know since she first emerged from her cave.

He'd also become privy to sides of Ayeka he hadn't been aware of before yesterday. He'd learned of the free spirit that was trapped within the confides of 'the first princess of Jurai'. She had told him about all the hopes, dreams and desires she had been forced to squash or ignore over the years. How she had sacrificed her childhood for THE DUTY. He found out how it was to have been raised as The First Princess, not as simply Ayeka. He learned of being disciplined for mistakes, found out about harsh tutors, distant parents whom she rarely saw and the brother she loved to pieces, but thought lost forever to the monster that she hated. The monster that she envied, because Ryoko enjoyed a freedom that Ayeka had never possessed prior to coming to earth.

Tenchi wiped away his tears with a sleeve, then gazed over at Sasami, finding her looking at him with a concerned expression. /What secrets lurk within those pretty eyes? What horrors hide behind Washu's crazed laughs? Whom are these people with whom I live and whom I love/ Tenchi mused, then attempted a weak smile to pacify Sasami. /I will find out./ Tenchi decided, then stepped forward and enfolded Sasami in a fierce hug. /I will find out/ he repeated.

"Tenchi-niichan? What's wrong?" Sasami inquired with a worried note, wrapping her own arms around him. "Why are you crying?"

"It's nothing, Sasami-chan. Nothing to worry about." he assured her, pulling back and planting a kiss on her forehead. "How about we sneak out next sunday? Perhaps go on a little picnic, just me and you?" he suggested, as one of her hands went up to her forehead, touching it with a near reverent nervous touch while blushing furiously.

"Just me and..." Sasami started, swallowing nervously. "I'd like that, Tenchi-niic... I mean... I'd really like that, Tenchi-sama." she replied, stopping herself and changing her address in an attempt to seem more mature. More like Ayeka.

"Tenchi-niichan is fine. Tenchi-sama sounds so formal and stuffy." Tenchi told her.

"I'm sorry, Tenchi-sa... Tenchi-niichan." Sasami apologised. "It's a date then?" she inquired a little anxiously.

"You have nothing to apologise for, Sasami-chan." he told her. "And yes, it's a date." he agreed. "I can't imagine anything I'd rather do on my day off then spend the day with a girl as pretty as you are." Tenchi announced, much to the pleasure of Sasami, who now sported a full-body blush.

* * *

Going through school while under the influence of Juraian Meditation Techniques had been an... Experience.

While nothing much had changed outwardly, the people around him had apparently sensed his changed mental state. He'd been asked out by three different girls, two of the guys in class he'd rarely even spoken with before wound up talking with him for much of the lunch and his friends kept looking strangely at him. The teachers had noted too.

Miyuki-sensei had complimented him on his focus during math, one of the topics in which Tenchi usually had to struggle simply not to fall asleep. Coach Hibiki kept insisting that Tenchi was 'in a groove', was 'awesome' and simply had to enter a national Kendo tournament coming up soon. He kept ranting all through class about how he was finally going to show his arch-rival, a coach from Furinkan High in Tokyo, that the 'pompous ass' Captain Kuno wasn't the invincible force of nature he was made out to be.

And Mizuho-sensei had flirted with him!

He was sure of it. Tenchi had lots of experience with women flirting with him and Mizuho-sensei had been nearly as blatantly obvious about it as Ryoko was most of the time. After that, Tenchi had decided that the training had to take a back seat and went through the rest of his day at school without mental enhancements.

Only Amagasaki hadn't treated him any differently while in the blessed state.

Though the other boy had commented upon it, once Tenchi emerged from it.

"So, finally got your head on straight, Tenchi? You were kinda out of it for most of the day." was all he said about it. "So, what did you think about that shirt Mizuho-sensei wore today? After she undid those buttons, I could see straight down her cleavage whenever she leaned forward!" he continued and Tenchi had to smile. Amagasaki never changed.

* * *

"We're destroying our chances, aren't we?" Ryoko pondered morosely in her drunken state of mind, drawing a startled look from Ayeka who was soaking in the warm water not far away. Usually, she preferred to keep her distance from Ryoko, but the Sake had drawn her in and kept her around.

"What are you muttering about, vile fiend?" Ayeka demanded, her own cheeks faintly red from both the heat of the water and the burn of the Sake going down her throat. Her casual insult lacked any real heat however, it was as if it was tossed out by force of habit rather then any real malice.

"Tenchi. What else?" Ryoko responded, downing another few gulps of the luke-warm drink. "Have you gotten anywhere? I know I haven't. Whenever I think I might actually get him to respond, you're there to break us up. The same is probably true for you. Whenever you seem to make any progress, there I am." Ryoko clarified. "Because we're both so intent on not loosing him to the other, we're both denying ourselves what little tidbits of fleeting happiness we might otherwise enjoy."

"Loath as I am to admit it, there are some faint scraps of truth in what you say." Ayeka admitted after almost a full minute of silence. "But surely things will take a turn for the better now! You were there, you saw what happened yesterday."

"But for how long will he keep up with this particular training, Ayeka? How long will we get to enjoy him being like this?" Ryoko asked, pouring herself a new cup. "I like the new Tenchi, it's such a rush to be able to finally kiss him and not have him back off, spluttering in terror. I'm sure it must be the same for you."

"It is something I could grow used to, yes." Ayeka reluctantly admitted. "Tenchi-sama..." she murmured and gently touched her lips with her right hand, fingers trailing lightly over them in a feather-soft caress, imagining that it was Tenchi's lips, not her own fingers that were there.

"But when he lays off with this training, things will most likely go back to how they were. So, loath as I am to do it, I suggest that we... That we... I suggest an..." Ryoko started, then grunted in frustration and closed her eyes. "That we work together on this for once, to get the most out of the current situation." she spat out, disgusted with herself for actually proposing such a thing.

"Work together... How?" Ayeka inquired suspiciously, but without the note of disgust Ryoko hadn't been able to keep out of her voice. After all, Ayeka had been trained as the first princess of Jurai, she had been prepared for diplomatic missions when she might have to enter alliances with people she hated, in order to get help against those she merely loathed, but who were a greater threat at the moment. She could play nice, when she had to and when something she wanted was up for grabs. And she really wanted more kisses from Tenchi!

Ryoko hastily explained her idea and much to Ayeka's surprise, it actually sounded workable. However...

"Are you certain that it will work?" Ayeka inquired with a nervous look on her face. "I mean, while it does seem likely to, even you must admit that our schemes have met with scant success in the past." she added.

"It'll work, I'm sure of it!" Ryoko insisted. "We've been going at this the wrong way all along."

"Well, I suppose even a blind Ular can find Daborberries on occasion." Ayeka grudgingly admitted. "To our imminent success." she proposed and raised her cup towards Ryoko.

"Success and plenty of kisses!" Ryoko responded and raised her own cup.

* * *

"So, Tenchi. How was school?" Noboyuki inquired. "Did you manage to hook up with any hot babes?" he added, always eager to hear any news that might increase his chances of becoming a grandfather in the immediate future.

"How could he? After all, I've been here all day." Ryoko boasted, then glanced pointedly at Ayeka who just stared back in confusion for a few moments, before she caught on.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous, you foul trollop. You would denominate yourself as a 'hot babe'?" Ayeka snorted. "If such a title were to be born by any present, it would be by me." she insisted.

"Oh, yeah!" Ryoko snarled, slamming a fist down on the table, turning around to face Ayeka across Tenchi's lap. "I'll have you know, miss prissy-pants, that I am the hottest babe in the universe! Unlike a certain flat-chested Juraian snob I might mention!"

"How dare you! You disgusting excuse for a Juraian being! The only life form that could possibly consider you 'hot', are Kodastal Ottors and even they would have to be suffering from delusions to do so!" Ayeka tossed out.

"Oh, go hump Funaho or something instead of bothering us with your mad ravings, you purple-headed Juraian tree-hugging Zronk!" Ryoko screamed, then was abruptly silenced as her lips were suddenly covered by Tenchi's own. Her waving arms hastily wrapped themselves around Tenchi, holding him closer and pushing him harder against her. She let off a satisfied groan into his mouth and everyone around the table blushed furiously at the display.

Except for Ayeka, whom surprisingly enough wasn't up in flames over the display. Rather, she was picking lint off her elaborate kimono and adjusting her Kimono over her chest in a rather calm manner. As Tenchi broke off the kiss with Ryoko, her face changed from calm to angry and she opened her mouth as if to launch out a furious tirade, but found herself silenced in the same manner Ryoko had. She too, wrapped her arms around Tenchi, moulding herself up against his body, crushing her chest against his.

"Oh my..." Washu commented, a faint blush colouring her cheeks as Ayekas hands roamed down low and started caressing Tenchi's firm rear posterior. "How... Bold..." she added, trying to keep the envy out of her voice.

"Awwww..." Mihoshi purred, large eyes glistening at the scene she witnessed. Her brow furrowed for a few moments as a notion struck her, but she quickly adopted her vapid masque again before anyone noticed.

"Hubba hubba..." Sasami muttered under her breath, holding her hands over her eyes, but with her fingers apart enough that she could peek through them at the scene in front of her. "Go Ayeka..." she added in a low mumble.

"YES!" Noboyuki cheered and bolted from the table, scrambling for a camera.

"Hey!" Ryoko protested, then yanked Tenchi out of Ayeka's arms, spun him around and pressed her lips against his again.

"Yay! Me next! Me next!" Mihoshi hollered, scrambled around the table and pushed Ryoko aside. "Mwah!" she exclaimed into Tenchis mouth as she claimed his lips, then darted her tongue into his mouth.

"Hey!" exclaimed the twin voices of Ryoko and Ayeka, then Mihoshi suddenly found herself dragged off Tenchi by Ayeka and teleported back to her seat by Ryoko.

"Oh, no. You two are not hogging all the fun to yourselves!" Washu exclaimed, reached into a subspace portal and pulled a lever, causing several holes to open up on the floor, ceiling and walls. Sturdy looking robotic arms suddenly darted out from them, restraining both Ayeka and Ryoko. "If anyone is going to hog Tenchi, it's going to be me!" she exclaimed and leapt over the table, morphing into her adult form in mid-air, tackling Tenchi to the ground.

"YES!" Noboyuki cheered again as he returned to the room, snapping off picture after picture of Washu ravaging Tenchi's mouth, pressing herself up against him and dragging his hands to her ample chest. "YES!" Noboyuki repeated again for good measure, then concentrated on taking picture after picture of events as they unfolded.

"My turn!" Mihoshi claimed as she grabbed Washu by the scruff of her neck, hoisting her up into the air and tossed her aside. Then she dove for the floor, taking the place Washu had possessed up until a few moments ago.

"Okay, so it didn't work out exactly as planned." Ryoko sheepishly admitted as she and Ayeka observed the proceedings from the sidelines, strung up and immobile as they were. Washu built her restraints to last and Ryoko couldn't even phase or teleport out of them.

"I'd say our approach requires a few slight modifications, yes." Ayeka agreed, hanging upside down and having to press her knees together around her kimono in order to preserve her modesty. "I have to admit that things worked well up to the point where I grew... Overly enthusiastic." she admitted. "I'm sorry. Things were well in hand up until then."

"Aw, don't sweat it. I shouldn't have tried to pull you off like that." Ryoko continued, willing to share a little of the blame as the princess had admitted herself at fault first. "Next time, I'll simply wait for my turn and outperform you then."

"Well, you are certainly welcome to try, harridan." Ayeka snorted.

"Thanks, prissy-pants. I'll do just that." Ryoko retorted.

"Would a 'prissy-pants' caress Tenchi-samas shapely behind as I did, demon?" Ayeka inquired.

"Naw, I guess you're right." Ryoko admitted. "Slut."

"'Slut'!" Ayeka shrieked. "I'll have your hide, as soon as I get out of this infernal contraption!"

"Bring it on, Slutty the Primpess." Ryoko snarled.

* * *

"Huh, that's odd..." Washu commented to herself, leaning forward to observe her holoscreen from a closer distance. "Pheromone levels suddenly spiked. I've gotten some high readings before, but these are just outright ridiculous." she observed out loud, then frowned. "Though it would certainly explain a thing or two..." she added, rubbing the back of her neck.

Mihoshi was stronger then she looked.

Though Washu had to admit that she was somewhat thankful for the distraction the pain offered her. It made it easier to think. She had been on edge ever since she emerged from her lab to eat and it had been all she could do to prevent herself from ravaging Tenchi right there on the dinner table in front of everyone. She didn't think she could have prevented herself, if she hadn't been in her petite form. Had she been in her adult form, she probably would have jumped him the moment she laid her eyes on him.

Over twenty thousand years without getting laid made her itchier then most and her normal levels of horniness were constantly higher then any of the other girls in the house. Even Ryoko didn't even come close. Which was the real reason why Washu spent most of her time as a child. Things were easier to deal with in a body that hadn't been through puberty yet. If she used her adult body, she'd never get any work done.

Washu tapped along on her keyboard and the frown deepened as she brought up a graph of pheromone readings over the last couple of days. Then she smiled and started to laugh.

"Oh my! This certainly changes things!" she laughed, looking again over at the screen which revealed that the resident pheromone levels in the household had increased almost sevenfold since Tenchi began using the battle meditation in his daily life.

At first, the change had been minor, hardly noticeable. But it appeared that whenever Tenchi used it, he excreted more pheromones, and more potent ones at that, then usual. This affected the females in the household, causing them to excrete more then usual. Which affected Tenchi, increasing his own output yet again. Sudden drastic spikes were explained by times when Tenchi had gotten a kiss, have Ryoko glomp him or anything else of the sort. As a result, the entire household was seven times as randy as usual and it seemed as if that number was still increasing.

She supposed that she ought to put a stop to things before they got out of hand.

On the other hand...

These sort of things never happened around Yosho and he almost never emerged from his battle trance. Why was it that Tenchi had this effect on those around him, but not Yosho? Did it have something to do with his more intimate connection with the Power of Jurai? Was it simply a lack of control and finesse, that Yosho had but Tenchi had yet to acquire?

The research possibilities were tempting.

Besides, if she kept her big mouth shut, she might manage to get herself laid.

Even Tenchi couldn't prevent himself from succumbing to his instincts ad nauseum with the way things were developing. Sooner or later, even his astounding willpower would crumble and if Washu played her cards right, she might just be the one who was around when that happened.

The grin that suddenly blossomed on Washu's lips was even more maniacal then usual and the laugh had a slight hysterical edge to it.

"Washu-chan, fight-o!"

"Washu-chan, use birth control!"

"Washu-chan, the most awesome lay in the universe!"

"Washu-chan, the cutest scientific genius in the universe!"

"Aw, you two are too kind." Washu told her two newest inventions, two small androids that looked just like her, only smaller, which were now perched on her shoulders, shouting words of encouragement.

She could hardly wait to see how things would continue to develop now, things were certainly starting to get pretty darn interesting around the Masaki household!

The End! ( For now... )


	3. Three

No Need for Serenity PG-13  
Niklas "Hawk" Jonsson

Summary: Tenchi is smooching with Mihoshi in the woods? Tenchi and Ryoko, snogging like there's no tomorrow? Tenchi frenching Ayeka in the living room? Tenchi giving 'it' to Washu? Has he been replaced with a pod person or just what is going on in the Masaki household?

Disclaimer: Tenchi Muyo, Onegai Teacher and whatnot are not mine, though I certainly wish they were. The story is mine though, all mine.  
If the layout looks screwy or symbols seems to be missing, you're probably reading the quickedit-mangled version of this fic on ff dot net, if it grates on your nerves too much, read it on hawksgalaxy dot com or something.

Feedback/Flames: Yes, please. Both of them are equally fun to read, although I must admit that I greatly prefer the first variety. :)  
I can be found on ICQ as 21771860, MSN Messenger/E-mail as iamhawk at yahoo dot com, though not very frequently as real life lately interferes with my online existance more then I'd like. More stories are available at my nifty lil' site at hawksgalaxy dot com or by clicking on my handle up above.

"speech"  
emphasis/shouts/Kindred Domination/post-hypnotic triggers  
/thoughts/  
/telepathy/  
translation  
+soundeffect/radio/telephone conversation/TV+

A Once So Innocent Soul Rants

I actually didn't mean to turn this fic so... Lemon-scented... When I started it. But well... A ( dirty ) man's gotta do, what a ( dirty ) man's gotta do! Who am I to complain when the pervy muses come knocking? ;D

This chapter has a Sasami-focus however, so less of a citrus:y smell, though I guess it'll please the lolicon crowd out there...

It also happens to be the work of a single day of writing. Well, expect for the first four or five paragraphs, which has been around for quite a while. But the rest of it, was all written today. It'd be nice if I could have that sort of focus every time I sat down to read, but... As you may have noticed, this only rarely the case. :)

It is kinda hard to restrain the urge to write utter filth though, being restrained to R-rated fics is somewhat annoying. Ah well, for those of you wanting to read the shit I've written when I've not been restrained to the R-rating, sod on over to TFF. Got some fresh lemons there for ya'll. :)

Now Corrupted Writer Shutting Up Before The Party-Wagon Comes Calling

Previously, on 'No Need for Serenity'

The research possibilities were tempting.

Besides, if she kept her big mouth shut, she might manage to get herself laid.

Even Tenchi couldn't prevent himself from succumbing to his instincts ad nauseum with the way things were developing. Sooner or later, even his astounding willpower would crumble and if Washu played her cards right, she might just be the one who was around when that happened.

The grin that suddenly blossomed on Washu's lips was even more maniacal then usual and the laugh had a slight hysterical edge to it.

"Washu-chan, fight-o!"

"Washu-chan, use birth control!"

"Washu-chan, the most awesome lay in the universe!"

"Washu-chan, the cutest scientific genius in the universe!"

"Aw, you two are too kind." Washu told her two newest inventions, two small androids that looked just like her, only smaller, which were now perched on her shoulders, shouting words of encouragement.

She could hardly wait to see how things would continue to develop now, things were certainly starting to get pretty darn interesting around the Masaki household!

Roll credits

* * *

Chapter Three:

As both Ryoko and Ayeka staggered off with happy smiles on their faces, they looked at each other and for a moment, shared a conspiratoric smile and sly winks. Tenchi saw this in the mirror and frowned for a split second. Had they staged the whole fight, just to trick kisses out of him? Would they do that? Had they done that? And if so, just how many of the other fights over the last couple of days had actually been real? Had any of them been real?

The one where Mihoshi and Washu had nearly come to blows seemed especially suspicious now. The two had never behaved like that before and in hind-sight, he supposed he should have become instantly suspicious when Washu nearly started fighting over the remote control! With her fists instead of technology.

He shook his head and put it out of his mind for the moment, he had his 'date' with Sasami today and it wouldn't do for him to spend that all distracted by other concerns. He was looking forward to it something fierce. Unlike when he spent time alone with the other girls, he expected this to be a much less harrowing experience and with a great deal less physical contact.

It wasn't so much of a concern when it happened, but once he dropped out of his meditative state, whatever he had experienced during it came crashing down and quite often took quite a lot out of him. Grandpa had tried to teach him a technique that would allow him to gradually experience everything that had went on while in the trance, but Tenchi had yet to master it. So when he dropped the meditation, everything came at him all at once.

All the emotions he'd suppressed, all the sensations he'd dulled and all the embarrassment he'd avoided in his trance, came at him like a sucker punch to the stomach.

He stopped by at the bathroom to do his business and freshen up a bit, then he passed by his room to pick up some supplies for his day with Sasami that he'd prepared beforehand and packed into his battered backpack. With everything ready, he walked back to the kitchen where Sasami was stocking a wicker basket with food and beverages for their day out.

"Miyaaah?" Ryo-ohki mewled questioningly and butted her furry head against the basket. "Miya?"

"Sorry, no carrots." Sasami apologised.

"Maaaaah..." Ryo-ohki complained and her ears slumped down as Tenchi picked up the basket and offered an arm to Sasami.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"Sure thing, Tenchi-niichan!" Sasami chirped and hastily attached herself to the offered arm.

"Miya!" Ryo-ohki approved and jumped up on Sasami's shoulder.

"Sorry, Ryo-ohki. Today it's just Tenchi and me. You'll have to play with Ryoko-neechan or Mihoshi-neechan today." Sasami said as she picked up the furry spaceship and set her down on the ground.

"Miyaaah?" Ryo-ohki questioned with a miserable and heart-broken expression on her wide-eyed face.

"I am sorry, Ryo-ohki..." Sasami stated with a note of finality in her voice.

"Miaaaahhhhh..." Ryo-ohki mewled and her tiny shoulders slumped, before she looked up at Tenchi with a hopeful expression.

"Sorry, little one. It won't be too bad though. Ryoko promised to fill in for me on the carrot fields. She'd probably be glad for a little company. And I know for a fact that Mihoshi can whip up a mean carrot cake. She told me so herself." Tenchi revealed, causing Ryo-ohki to noticeably perk up. Her ears rose upwards and her little nose started to twitch in excitement, before she took off running like all the demons of hell were behind her.

"That wasn't very nice of you, Tenchi-niichan." Sasami admonished him teasingly.

"Well, Ryoko did say that she was going to cover for me. I don't think she actually intends to, but she did say that she would. Perhaps with Ryo-ohki pestering her about it, she'll actually do it." Tenchi said with a faint smile. "And Mihoshi did say that she could bake. How much of the kitchen that still will be standing when she is done is another question entirely."

"But still..." Sasami said, looking around the kitchen with a worried expression.

"We've saved a bundle on repairs these last couple of days anyway, a couple of broken things in the kitchen is a small price to pay for a Ryo-ohki-free day. Isn't it?" Tenchi inquired. "But I could call her back, if you want to?" he offered and made as if to call out for Ryo-ohki.

"Nonono! It's okay!" Sasami quickly exclaimed, raising one of her hands to cover Tenchi's mouth. "Let's go, Tenchi-niichan!" she urged him on and started pulling on his arm to get him going.

"Thought as much..." Tenchi mumbled under his breath as he allowed himself to be dragged out of the kitchen and Masaki home by the insistent young girl by his side.

* * *

"Oh, it's beautiful..." Sasami breathed as Tenchi put the basket on the ground and started shrugging out of his backpack, from which he extracted a soft blanket and put down onto the ground. He looked up at her near worshipful tone of voice and looked around, before offering her a small smile.

"It is, isn't it?" Tenchi agreed with a nostalgic expression. "Father showed me this place once. It was one of mothers favourite spots." he explained as he straightened the blanket out, before he put the basket down on one corner of it. He stood up and moved over to Sasami, standing behind her and gently grasping her shoulders. Just like he had done with Mihoshi when he encountered her in the woods after his training, he started to administer a gentle massage as the two of them looked out over their surroundings.

The clearing was small, surrounded by trees on three sides of it and with a small mountain brook running enclosing the last side. An abundance of flowers were growing here and the sun shone down into it through and over the trees. They were awash in a sea of colours, a multitude of greens, complimented by the blue of the water and the myriad of colours that the flowers provided. Some distance off, they could also see Yosho's space tree towering far above the more normal trees surrounding it. A handful of smaller clouds drifted through the otherwise clear-blue sky above them and a gentle breeze kept the warmth to a bearable level.

All in all, it was a perfect day for an outing and this was a perfect spot for such.

"You're very good at that, Tenchi-niichan..." Sasami commented after a couple of minutes of silence.

"Grandpa has been teaching me ever since he first started training me. It's a great way to wind down after a hard practise." Tenchi explained, then chuckled. "Though I need it more then grandpa does." he admitted with a wry expression that Sasami couldn't see with her back against him. Had his hands been free, he would have rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Is that why you asked me to bring a swimsuit?" Sasami mumbled and nodded towards the stream in front of them.

"Yep. It's a little cold, but after a day in the sun, it's quite refreshing." Tenchi agreed.

"So, it's not just an excuse to see me in a swimsuit?" Sasami inquired with an impish tone of voice.

"Well..." Tenchi mumbled.

"Tenchi-niichan is naughty." Sasami giggled.

"I'm not the only one. I don't think it was an accident when you walked in on my bath yesterday." Tenchi commented, which caused Sasami to blush furiously and be immensely grateful that she was facing away from him at the moment.

When she opened the door to the bathroom, it led to the onsen. When one of the males opened it, it led to the regular old bathroom. So she had just happened to bring up an armful of towels when she knew that Noboyuki would soon be going and happily enough bumped into him outside the bathroom. She had cutely requested that he open the door for her as her arms were full and he had. She'd thanked him profusely and then strolled into the bathroom, coming across Tenchi in the tub.

"That was just an accident. I didn't think about what would happen if it was Noboyuki who opened the door!" Sasami exclaimed innocently.

"Really?" Tenchi asked.

"Really!" Sasami assured him confidently.

"Really?" Tenchi drawled into her right ear after having leaned forward over her right shoulder.

"R-r-r-real-really!" Sasami stuttered nervously.

"Really?" he drawled into her left hear, having moved over to the other side of her head.

"W-w-w-we-well..." Sasami stuttered.

"Heh, thought as much..." Tenchi commented as he withdrew, chuckling in bemusement as he kept up the shoulder rub.

"Tenchi-niichan no Baka..." Sasami muttered disgruntledly.

"I'm not mad, Sasami. I just think that it's perhaps a bit too early for you to be concerned about such things." he revealed.

"Is it?" Sasami countered with a faint sigh. "I like you, Tenchi-niichan. But... So does everybody else. I've even seen Ryo-ohki making googly-eyes at you when she's humanoid. Sometimes when she's not, too." she explained and looked up at the clouds floating past in the skies above. "Am I too young for you, Tenchi-niichan?" she asked in a worried tone of voice.

"For what you're probably thinking about now, yes." Tenchi replied after a few moments to consider his response. "But I like you too, Sasami-chan. If we're meant to be, I can wait." he assured her.

"I've talked to Tsunami-neesama and experimented a bit. We can speed up the merger. I'd be older then." Sasami revealed after a couple of seconds of comfortable silence.

"There's time. Plenty of it." Tenchi responded.

"No, there's not!" Sasami protested and shrugged off Tenchi's hands, whirling around to stare up at him. "I've seen you with the others, you know. You are all touchy-feely and kissy-kissy with each other now. As long as you have that with everybody but me, you're never going to pick me!" she snapped and put her right foot down with a fierce thud. "You like that sorta thing, Tenchi-niichan. Don't try to tell me that you don't!" she groused and looked down at the ground, a faint blush on her cheeks.

"That I do." Tenchi admitted before he crouched down to eye-level with Sasami. "But you know what? I still like you, Sasami-chan. I don't do my thinking with my lips or hands and I certainly won't make a choice with them. I'll make that with my heart." he explained and tilted her chin up so he could look her into her eyes. "And you've got just as large a space in my heart as any of the other girls." he assured her and bent forward to place brief pecks to her right and left cheeks, which only increased her blush.

"Really?" she whispered in a faint tone of voice.

"Really." Tenchi assured her with a comforting smile.

"But look, I can do it!" Sasami blurted out and took a deep breath, closed her eyes and suddenly... Expanded.

Tenchi blinked in faint absent surprise and pulled back a bit as Sasami slowly grew taller and matured before his very eyes. Faint drops of sweat appeared on her forehead and her expression twisted with a bit of pain.

"Sasami... Stop. Stop it." Tenchi breathed in astonished shock and faint worry, feeling his control over his meditative state slipping as his focus shifted to Sasami instead of his centred self. She didn't appear to hear him and let out a faint whimper as she kept on growing older. Her physical age was now at least fourteen or fifteen. "Stop it!" Tenchi insisted.

"Just a little bit more..." Sasami insisted and grew a bit more, her expression turning increasingly more pained.

"No! You're in pain! Stop it, Sasami-chan!" he protested even as she matured further, sixteen or seventeen now.

"Just... A little bit more..."

"Sasami-chan! No!" Tenchi shouted and grabbed her shoulders, but leaped back in shock as she cried out and shuddered at his touch, finally completely snapping out of his meditative state. "Sasami!" he screamed in terrified panic and this finally caused her to stop, collapsing to her knees in exhaustion. "Sasami-chan... Oh, Kami-sama... Sasami... Are you all right!" he asked and went down on his knees, holding her upright as she nearly fell to the ground, completely spent.

"I'm okay... It's all right..." she mumbled and opened her eyes, leaning back and looking straight at him, her face and body now seemingly around eighteen or nineteen. He nearly gasped at the vision in front of him, taking in all the changes she'd gone through in less then a minute.

She was taller then him now, by at least five centimetres. Her hair had grown longer and while he'd never tell her this, it looked outright strange, if not ugly as it was now. But if she let it flow free or braided it instead of the odd-ball pig-tails she had now, he supposed that it would be quite stunning. Her body had filled out, tremendously so. Her hips had widened, her face had lost the baby fat and her chest had grown to such a degree that she now nearly rivalled Mihoshi. Not to forget that it also revealed that Sasami hadn't started wearing a bra just yet.

The clothes that had fit loosely to young Sasami, was now filled to near-bursting and her breasts in particular looked in outright danger of ripping the frilly white blouse clean off her. The pale pink skirt which had almost reached her knees before, had ridden up to such a degree that it revealed the colour of her pale blue panties. Her sandals had been pushed off as her feet expanded somewhat.

"What... What do you think, Tenchi-niichan?" Sasami asked, her voice subtly changed as well. Deeper, fuller and thought Tenchi was loathe to admit it, sexier. She looked like a younger version of Tsunami and sounded like a curious blend of Sasami and Tsunami.

"You're beautiful, but come on now, change back." he pleaded with her. "This is hurting you."

"The change itself hurts, but once it's done, I'm fine." Sasami assured him. "I'm just a little winded. I'll be all right in a couple of minutes."

"That was a stupid thing to do, Sasami." Tenchi admonished her and poked her forehead. "I never want to see you hurting like that ever again, do you hear me?" he demanded.

"It's okay, Tenchi-niichan. It's not that bad." she tried to downplay it.

"Don't give me that crap. I could see how much it hurt and how much of it you were holding back. Don't do this again, Sasami-chan. Ever." Tenchi insisted.

+Slap+

Tenchi blinked in surprise, his left hand shakingly rising to his cheek as he stared in shock at Sasami.

"I love you, Tenchi-niichan. But please, shut up." Sasami sighed and took a deep breath. "Just because I like you, doesn't give you the right to decide what I can or can not do. It's my body, my decision."

"I just don't want to see you hurt! Can't you understand that!" Tenchi shouted.

"That is not for you to decide." Sasami countered firmly.

"Okay, okay. It's not my decision, I understand that. But please, Sasami. Don't do it again. For me? I... I thought my heart was going to stop when I saw how painful it was for you. It's... I can't stand to see it." he admitted and looked down onto the ground, then hastily looked up at her face again as he realized that looking down offered him a spectacular view of her panties.

Sasami blinked at him, then looked down as well, then blushed even more furiously then she had when he kissed her and yanked her skirt down, then crossed her arms over her chest.

"Hrm... I usually don't do this wearing these kind of clothes..." she muttered in acute embarrassment. "I guess I'd better change back, huh?" she asked and closed her eyes again, taking another deep breath and then she started to shrink.

"Oh, Kami-sama..." Tenchi muttered with a shudder as he saw how Sasami trembled and whimpered in pain under her breath as her body reconfigured itself.

"Gah!" she suddenly cried out loud and slumped over herself, hugging her own torso and breathing erratically.

"Sasami!" Tenchi cried out and pulled her onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her. "Are you all right? Should I go get Washu?"

"I'm fine... It's okay... I'm all right..." she assured him between deep breaths. "Returning to my old self hurts more, for some reason." she panted and slowly wrapped her own arms around his torso, snuggling into his chest with a small sigh.

"Please, Sasami-chan! Don't do something like this again. Please? For me?" Tenchi requested in a low broken voice.

"S'okay." Sasami mumbled.

"No, it's not. It's awful seeing you go through something like this." Tenchi complained.

"Fine. We won't do it around you anymore." Sasami sighed. "You do know that the day will come when this change will occur no matter what, right? Someday, the boundaries between me and Tsunami will completely collapse."

"There's no need for you to force it before it's time, though!" Tenchi countered.

"We're practising doing it gradually like this for a reason, Tenchi. Have you any idea how much it would hurt it all of it were to happen at once in less then a second like it will when our boundaries merge?" she asked and Tenchi blanched, feeling the contents of his stomach rising. "Tsunami and I thought that we'd increase my maturation some, bit by bit. By the end of this year, I'll probably look like a sixteen year old earthling. Somewhere around next summer, we'll have merged completely and become one."

"But that's... Less then a year until then!" Tenchi protested.

"Yes. I... She... We. We thought we'd have more time, but after that whole mess with Kagato... When Tsunami had to come out like that, the process was jump-started. It's inevitable now and the time for the merger is rapidly approaching." Sasami revealed and looked over at the water, smiling faintly as some of it was diverted to dry land where a shimmering figure started to form from the clear waters of the mountain stream. "We thought you should be the first to know." Sasami said as she turned back to Tenchi as the aquanoid slowly transformed into a watery copy of Tsunami, who slowly strode over towards the two of them.

"I'm honoured..." Tenchi mumbled. "I just wish that it wouldn't have to be like that. You're too young, you shouldn't have to be forced to experience something like this, Sasami-chan."

"I'm older then you Tenchi-niichan, y'know." Sasami commented with a wry smile. "Besides, I'm sort of looking forward to it, actually. This is something that has never happened to somebody else, not even my sister or brother. For once, I'm going to be unique."

"You are unique, Sasami-chan." Tenchi assured her.

"How kind of you to say so, Tenchi-dono." Tsunami said to announce her presence, causing Tenchi to gasp in shock and his head to swivel around to the watery goddess of Jurai who stood at the edge of the blanket with her hands clasped in front of her. "Do you mind if I join the two of you?" she inquired and gestured at the blanket with her right hand, before she clasped them again.

"Well... This was supposed to be a day for just Sasami and me..." Tenchi mumbled.

"Don't be ridiculous, Tenchi-niichan. Tsunami and I are a set. Buy one, get one free." she giggled and gestured at Tsunami to join them.

"Well, I guess it's okay then." Tenchi commented and nodded at the blanket.

"Thank you, Tenchi-dono. Sasami-chan." Tsunami stated sedately and gracefully kneeled down opposite Tenchi and Sasami. Sasami stretched and rose slightly to plant a kiss on Tenchi's surprised lips, before she slid off his lap and moved over to kneel next to Tsunami, the two of them looking more like younger and older sister then Ayeka and Sasami did. Tsunami had even emulated Sasami's mode of dress, even though the water she had materialized from made both her body and clothes faintly transparent. If he looked straight at her, Tenchi could faintly make out the background behind through Tsunami, which was a very disconcerting effect.

"Sasami has always lived in the shadow of her parents and older siblings." Tsunami mused out loud and reached out to draw her watery fingers across Sasami's head, smoothing out a few lose strands of hair that had popped out when she started shape-shifting. "I doubt she's ever considered herself unique..." she stated and trailed off into contemplative silence.

"I am right here, y'know. Don't talk about me like I'm not here, Tsunami-neesama." Sasami berated the goddess.

"I do apologise for my impertinence, Sasami-chan." Tsunami apologised with a sedate bow. "It was not my intent to disregard you."

"Do it again and I'll punish you." Sasami threatened playfully.

"I quake in fear of your ire and will strive to refrain from earning it, Sasami-chan." Tsunami assured her with a faint smile playing at the edges of her lips.

"Do you two talk often?" Tenchi asked, looking between the two of them in a mixture of faint awe and utter bewilderment.

"Sure! Tsunami usually doesn't appear for others to see like this though, but I asked her to pop out and see us today." Sasami replied. "Usually, we just converse in my head."

"Uh. Cool." was all that Tenchi was capable of saying at the moment, suddenly wishing for a few minutes of privacy so he could sink back down into a meditative state again. "So... Why did you ask Tsunami to come out to play?" he managed to inquire.

"Well, you wanted to get to know all of us better and Tsunami is already a part of me. As time goes on, she'll be an even bigger part of me. Leaving her out of it just wouldn't be right." Sasami firmly insisted and Tenchi nodded understandingly.

"Well, it's nice to meet you again, Tsunami-sama." Tenchi offered and bowed deeply.

"Please, Tenchi-dono. None of that." Tsunami requested and reached out, putting her right hand to his cheek and gently urging him to sit back up. "Just Tsunami is fine." she said with a tentative smile and even a hint of a blush. "Or Tsunami-chan, if that is more to your liking. After all, I am a part of Sasami." she continued and glanced aside at Sasami with a fond glint in her eyes and a warm smile on her watery lips.

"Uh, uhm, well..." Tenchi stuttered nervously as he mentally berated himself for being such a huge wuss. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, if he could be calm in a meditative state, he could bloody well force himself to be outside of it as well! "Sure, Tsunami-san." he stated in a reasonably calm and controlled voice.

"Tsu-na-mi-chan." Tsunami purred and his concentration was broken again.

"Ughm..." he gulped and blinked apprehensively.

"Making googly-eyes and flirting with my man are we, Tsunami-neesama?" Sasami asked with a raised eyebrow and a mock-stern voice.

"Our man, Sasami-chan. We are going to be one, remember?" Tsunami countered with an innocent expression.

"Uhm, I'm my own man, aren't I?" Tenchi interjected and suddenly found himself under the scrutiny of both women. "Right. How foolish of me..." he mumbled as Tsunami and Sasami looked at each other again.

"He doesn't seem all that convinced, Sasami-chan." Tsunami commented. "Perhaps the others have affected him more then we originally thought over the last couple of days."

"You may be onto something there, Tsunami-neesama." Sasami admitted with a glance at Tenchi. "Perhaps we should do something about it." she hinted.

"Perhaps we should." Tsunami agreed.

"I still owe you a punishment from before, don't I?" Sasami mused and turned a mock-stern expression on Tsunami. "Your blouse, off it goes." she ordered and Tsunami smiled as the blouse faded away and merged with the rest of her water-spawned body.

Tenchi gulped nervously and swallowed, before he averted his eyes. While Sasami really had no need for a brassiere, Tsunami did. Or would have, if her breasts hadn't been supernaturally perky despite their size. Not even the merest hint of sagginess there.

"Tenchi-niichan doesn't seem to appreciate the fact that I'd probably be married if I'd remained on Jurai. I'm older now then Ayeka-nee was when she was supposed to have married Yosho-niisan, after all. You're old enough however..." Sasami said and turned her attention to Tenchi, who was still looking away so his gaze wouldn't fall across the topless Juraian goddess faux body in front of him. "Tenchi-niichan... Look at me." Sasami requested and Tenchi reluctantly turned his head slightly around so he could look at Sasami, but still keep Tsunami out of his field of vision. "Tsunami-neesama... Sick 'im." Sasami said with an impish grin, observing Tenchi's panicked expression as Tsunami suddenly lunged at him, throwing herself at him and bringing him to the ground with her resting on top of him.

For a body that had been created out of water, she felt surprisingly real and solid he reflected for a few brief moments as she grabbed the sides of his head and turned his face towards her.

"Help." he wimpered just before Tsunami claimed his lips with hers.

"You planned this, didn't you?" Tenchi groused a couple of minutes later as he sat himself upright again, adjusting his clothes and rebuttoning his shirt, offering the occasional glare towards Sasami as he did so.

"Why, whatever do you mean, Tenchi-niichan?" she asked with an innocent expression, putting her left index finger against the corner of her lips as Tsunami sat back down next to Sasami again, smiling as the blouse she had 'worn' before suddenly rose out of her 'skin' until she was decently 'clad' again. She let out a pleased sigh and both her braids which had become undone during the frantic kissing and groping session re-braided themselves between one blink of the eye and the next, until she looked just as impeccable as she had when she first appeared before them.

"Yes, whatever do you mean, Tenchi-niichan?" Tsunami parroted and mimicked Sasami's expression and posture perfectly.

"Fine, fine, whatever. I won't pry. But I am going to assume that you two planned this out." Tenchi grunted as he pulled out his hankie and wiped his face. For a couple of seconds he considered going off a bit to adjust himself, but finally just shrugged and did it as covertly as possible right where he was. Though considering the faint blushes and interested intent expressions on both Sasami's and Tsunami's faces, he might just as well have just grabbed himself right there and still attracted the same amount of attention from the two of them.

"Well... I may have considered trying out some of the things I've seen you do with the others lately and came to the conclusion that you wouldn't because you think I'm too young, then considered some way to... Work around that." Sasami frankly admitted. "Tsunami-neesama was most cooperative and appreciative of my idea. Weren't you, Tsunami-neesama?" Sasami asked with a friendly smile directed at the tree goddess of Jurai.

"I'd certainly like to think so, Sasami-chan." Tsunami agreed with a faint smile.

"But... You're a goddess." Tenchi interjected.

"'Goddess' is the label others have put upon me, but yes, you are essentially correct, Tenchi-dono." Tsunami agreed, then glanced down at Sasami. "I am somewhat of a special case, however. The merger with Sasami-chan has consequences for me as well, not just Sasami. Just as she is slowly developing into me, I am developing into her." she explained and looked back at Tenchi.

"I have existed for countless millennia, everlasting and never changing. Until the unfortunate incident which would have claimed Sasami's life if not for my intervention. It saved Sasami's life and allowed her to keep on existing, that was what she gained out of it. But I too gained something, no longer am I never changing. I am, for the first time I can recall, changing into something new and gloriously exciting. A whole new world has opened up to me, a wealth and range of emotions I've never experienced directly before, only observed from a distance, is now mine to experience for myself." Tsunami explained patiently.

"Not entirely to yourself, however." Sasami interjected.

"No, not entirely." Tsunami agreed. "While we are still separate entities, we have already started sharing our experiences, thoughts, memories, emotions and beliefs with each other." she continued and looked up at Tenchi. "For instance, Sasami is now able to communicate with the Tree's of Jurai in a more complete way then anyone else before her other then me has ever been capable of. She is also capable to relive my experiences this day with great clarity, should she so wish." she revealed with a knowing smile directed at Sasami, who blushed and looked away as Tenchi stared in shock at her. "As I am able to relieve what she experiences and have already gained a small amount of her fondness for mischief. I have through her also inherited her feelings in regards to you, Tenchi-dono. I too, like you very much, Tenchi-dono." she finished.

"Haaaaah!" was all that Tenchi was capable of saying in response to that! Though something else that had been said just now managed to get his mind back in working order, though he carefully stayed away from thinking about the fact that he'd just been confessed to by a goddess! "You can recall what she's experienced!" Tenchi asked with his eyes open wide as he stared at Sasami and then over at Tsunami, before shifting his gaze back to Sasami.

"Can, will and have." Sasami agreed. "Did while she experienced it, actually." she added with a furious blush and a widening smile. "It was even better then I'd imagined. I guess practising with the others these last couple of days have paid off, eh? Tenchi-niichan?"

"Oh lord..." Tenchi mumbled, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Do not fret needlessly about it, Tenchi-dono. Sasami is well past what you earthlings refer to as Age of Consent. On Jurai, it is not a fixed age, but rather it is considered to be from the onset of puberty, whenever that might occur. For Sasami, that took place more then sixty years ago, when she and her sister were awoken from cryo-sleep at Saladis for a supply run and maintenance of some of the non-organic components of Ayeka's companion." Tsunami explained. "Had she remained on Jurai, she might well have been married and carrying her firstborn at her current physical age."

"You're talking about me as if I wasn't here again, Tsunami-neesama." Sasami pointed out with a faintly frustrated expression.

"My apologies, Sasami-chan." Tsunami gently intoned and bowed in her seat.

"Tsunami-neesama has been alone for so long that she's not really used to having to take others into consideration." Sasami explained with a nod in Tsunami's direction.

"Oh, I see." Tenchi commented.

"I don't think you're capable of understanding something like that, Tenchi-niichan. You're the less selfish person I've ever met. Tsunami-neechan has been alone even longer then Ryoko has and you know how selfish she can be." Sasami commented.

"But you've helped me to change, Sasami-chan..." Tsunami murmured.

"You've still got a way to go if you can so easily forget about me even when I'm right next to you." Sasami countered.

"My apologies, Sasami-chan." Tsunami repeated again and offered yet another bow to Sasami.

"This is so weird..." Tenchi mumbled and shook his head. "Well, I intended to use this day to get to know Sasami a little better, I guess that was just a little bigger of a task then I first expected, huh?" he asked the two ladies in front of him and chuckled a bit. "For instance, I thought you had spent the entire trip in cryo-sleep, but if you went through puberty after leaving Jurai, you must have been awake from time to time?"

"Yes. We were awoken nine times during the trip." Sasami replied.

"Can you tell me a bit about the places you got to see?" Tenchi requested and looked up at the skies above him, trying to imagine what sort of wonders might be found in the vast reaches of outer space.

"Sure thing, Tenchi-niichan!" Sasami agreed and though the day had gotten off to a somewhat rocky start, it progressed rather smoothly from there.

Though the topless kissing incident earlier was not the last time of the day when he suddenly and often rather unexpectedly found himself pressed up against an arm-full of Tree Goddess of Jurai. It seemed that both Sasami and Tsunami herself enjoyed surprising him with a couple of excruciatingly hot kisses and some fondling whenever he was least expecting it.

And if he were to be completely honest with himself, then so did he.

Though he found it somewhat disturbing that once when he'd allowed himself to get a little too carried away and caressed Tsunami's nether regions, her moan had been mirrored by one from Sasami. After that incident, he kept everything strictly above the waist.

But other then that and having to endure watching Sasami shifting earlier, it was one of the more enjoyable days he could recall ever experiencing.

Up until that grandpa had found out that he'd accidentally slipped out of his meditative state and punished him with an extra long and extra harsh training session in the evening...

The End! ( For now... )


End file.
